2015 has been a groundbreaking year for the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) -- a unique think tank that advances an intersectional, structural approach to racial and gender justice. From #BlackGirlsMatter to #SayHerName our work to represent the needs of women and girls of color reached a diverse audience of policy makers, activists, media, academics, and concerned stakeholders. In 2015, AAPF drove a national conversation about women and girls of color, making visible challenges and conditions they face in order to seek accountability from stakeholders, allies and decisionmakers. And it is work that is making a difference.

#SAYHERNAME

AAPF has engaged in widespread community outreach and social media advocacy initiatives. On May 20th, 2015, in partnership with 1 Billion Rising, we hosted #SayHerName: A Vigil in Memory of Black Women and Girls Killed by the Police at Union Square in New York City. For the first time family members of Black women killed by police came together from across the country in a powerful vigil designed to uplift their loved ones' stories. The #SayHerName hashtag -- promoted by AAPF in February 2015 -- has come to represent the burgeoning movement to elevate the stories of Black women who face myriad crises -- including domestic violence, sexual assault by police, and inadequate mental health support. The campaign’s goal is to engender increased visibility and accountability for women-identified victims of state violence and call for an inclusive social justice movement.

#BREAKINGTHESILENCE

AAPF extended its signature “Breaking the Silence” Town Hall Series to uplift the discriminatory experiences of women and girls of color facing life altering challenges such as school push out, incarceration, state-sanctioned violence, domestic violence, foster care, trafficking, and housing discrimination. In 2015 we partnered with local organizations to bring town halls to New Orleans, Miami, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. Furthermore, over the summer we convened an intergenerational group of women and girls of color from across the country for “Breaking Silence: An Arts, Action, and Healing Summer Camp.” The Summer Camp provided an unprecedented opportunity for participants in the Town Hall Series to share stories, uplift spirits, and fight for justice using artistic modes of expression.

BODIES OF REVOLUTION

On December 5, AAPF and One Billion Rising partnered to bring together a formidable group of activists for an event exploring the ties between state violence against women in the United States and in conflict zones around the world. Women activists from countries including the US, Colombia, India, Afghanistan and Palestine came together to explore the ties between imperialism, racism, sexism, and neo-colonialism and to make visible their resistance efforts. The audience drew people from all walks of life who came together for a full day to listen, to ask questions, and to become better informed advocates for peace and well being in their communities.

#WHYWECANTWAIT

AAPF continues its work on #WhyWeCantWait, a campaign calling for the inclusion of women and girls of color – along with their male counterparts -- at the center of racial justice policy initiatives. Over the course of this campaign, we have released open letters, written op-eds, done TV and radio interviews and produced a series of nationally-broadcast webinars. In order to address the many knowledge and resource gaps pertaining to women and girls of color, AAPF, in partnership with the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, launched a research consortium in May 2015 at Columbia Law School. Academics and researchers whose work focuses on women and girls of color came together to advocate for increased research support in this arena, and to put a research plan in motion.

VIRTUAL ADVOCACY

AAPF also continues to organize timely virtual events that garner hundreds of attendees. #HerDreamDeferred, a weeklong webinar series on the status of Black women in American society, reached over 1000 attendees. The five-day series focused on state violence, interpersonal violence, health disparities, the wealth gap, and barriers to higher education. Our Spring Valley is Everywhere webinar responded to the brutal assault on a young African American girl by a School Resource Officer. We centered the voices of young Black women to demonstrate that they too are subject to punitive disciplinary policies in this arena, and to call for a fundamental realignment of zero tolerance policies. Our webinar Holtzclaw Trial: It’s Not Over Yet featured Oklahoma City activists Grace Franklin and Candace Liger, who have been mobilizing to support the 13 Black women who were assaulted by former OKC police officer Daniel Holtzclaw. Participants discussed how sexual assault is one of the leading abuses faced by women of color in their interactions with the police. The webinar set the groundwork for increased advocacy to make this problem visible and to hold police departments accountable for their multiple failures to eradicate sexually predatory behavior among police officers.

SPEAKING AND FACILITATING EVENTS ON INTERSECTIONALITY

AAPF’s Executive Director, Kimberle Crenshaw, brought intersectional and structural analysis to students, educators and stakeholders across the country in more than 25 events throughout 2015. Crenshaw moderated panels at Columbia Law School and Columbia University on the status of our democracy, and gave keynote addresses on civil rights and intersectional feminism to a variety of audiences including Duke Law School, Lafayette College, Scripps College, Seattle’s Human Rights Day, the Association of Black Sociologists and the National Women’s Studies Association’s Annual Conference. AAPF staff actively supported this outreach. They taught students at Dickinson College how to play AAPF’s “Unequal Opportunity Race Board Game,” and designed and facilitated a workshop on intersectionality for the Women’s Donor Network in New Orleans.

10TH ANNIVERSARY WRITERS RETREAT

AAPF held the 10th Anniversary convening of its Social Justice Writers Retreat in Negril, Jamaica in 2015. The retreat provides writers interested in racial justice concerns a setting within which to share and constructively critique works in progress. Last year cofounders Crenshaw and Harris, AAPF staff, and workshop participants conceived of the idea for The Charleston Imperative -- a statement ultimately signed by over 3,000 concerned individuals in the wake of the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. Signees included writers, social justice advocates and others drawn from feminist and antiracist mobilizations such as Alice Walker, Eve Ensler, Kiese Laymon, Gloria Steinem, Darnell Moore, Brittney Cooper, Marlon Peterson and Jane Fonda. See, "The Charleston Imperative,” Ms. Magazine Blog; and "The Charleston Imperative," The Huffington Post. The retreat attendees included, among others, Barbara Arnwine, Janine Jackson, Devon Carbado, George Lipsitz, Sumi Cho, Steven Cohen, Paul Butler, Alvin Starks, Barbara Tomlinson, and Laura Flanders.

THANK YOU!

We are immensely grateful for the supporters who have helped make our work possible. Your contributions allow AAPF to make unprecedented progress in broadening and deepening social justice research and advocacy. We know that efforts to make the concerns of women and girls of color visible within racial justice discourses require sustained advocacy and accessible frameworks. We will carry this work into 2016 and beyond. Won’t you join us? Any tax deductible donation before the new year can make a difference.

$2,000+ Spend a day with AAPF, including a class at Columbia or UCLA and dinner with the AAPF founders and team members. (Travel not included)

Bodies of Revolution: Women Rise Against the Violence of Police, States and Empire

On December 5, AAPF and One Billion Rising partnered to bring together a formidable group of activists for a public panel discussion on resisting the violence of police, states, and empire. Major Influencers with international impact joined us to share their insight and ways forward for greater visibility and resistance across multiple oppressive systems, and discussed how they organize communities to combat imperialism, racism, sexism, and neo-colonialism.

Our audience was filled with students, professors, and out of town visitors alike for a day to listen in, ask questions, and be better informed advocates in their communities.

On this weekend of giving thanks, AAPF would like to extend our deepest gratitude to you, our wonderful supporters and donors. We are pleased to announce that in honor of #Giving Tuesday and this Holiday Season, our end of year fundraising campaign is live!

2015 has been a tremendous year for the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) -- a unique think tank that engages wide-ranging audiences to advance an intersectional, structural approach to racial and gender justice. From #SayHerName to #BlackGirlsMatter, our work to shed light on the barriers to equality facing women and girls of color reached across the country and globe, impacting a diverse audience of policy makers, activists, media, academics, and concerned stakeholders.

AAPF has also engaged in widespread community outreach and social media advocacy initiatives. On May 20th, 2015, AAPF hosted #SayHerName: A Vigil in Memory of Black Women and Girls Killed by the Police at Union Square in New York City. Family members of Black women killed by police came together from across the country for the first time in a powerful vigil designed to uplift their loved ones' stories. The #SayHerName hashtag -- coined by AAPF in February 2015 -- has come to represent the burgeoning movement to uplift the stories of Black women and gender nonconforming people who have been made to suffer as a result of their race and gender identity

We are immensely grateful for the supporters who have helped make all of this possible -- but our work is far from done, and we can’t do it without you. Please consider partnering with us by making a tax-deductible donation to sustain our efforts to advance social justice that centers all lives, all races, and all genders equally.

The African American Policy Forum is deeply disappointed that the six officers who swarmed and Tasered Natasha McKenna to death in Fairfax (Va.) County Jail will face no criminal charges for their actions. We condemn the disregard for McKenna’s humanity that led to her detainment and death after she called 911 for mental health support. We are gravely concerned that this failure to prosecute effectively endorses the view that responsibility for her death falls on the person least in control of the situation—McKenna herself. The fact that McKenna’s call for help resulted in her being criminalized, detained and ultimately treated as a deadly biohazard evidences a system that views Black women in crisis as less than human.

A shocking video released on September 10 shows that McKenna stopped breathing after six officers in hazmat suits Tased the naked woman four times with 50,000 volts of electricity. McKenna was Tased while shackled, restrained in a chair, and covered with a hood. The tragedy that unfolded, which we can now all see, shows that McKenna's death was not a mere accident, nor was it dictated by any real concern for officer safety. It was a raw exercise of power, rationalized by the perception that McKenna’s behavior was evidence of willful disregard for their authority.

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacy Kincaid released the footage in an effort to show the “professionalism” and the “restraint and the patience that the deputies demonstrated.” Kincaid’s comments strain credibility. That McKenna was certainly terrified, confused and desperate was lost not only on the officers who killed her, but on the authorities who judged the officers' behavior to be “professional” and consistent with all applicable laws.

Unfortunately, McKenna’s death is no anomaly. The killing of Black women in crisis is all too familiar. Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, Shereese Francis, Kayla Moore, and Tyisha Miller were all met with deadly violence when they or their loved ones sought supportive intervention. Along with McKenna and many others whose names we don’t know, these Black women in mental health crises were brutalized by the very people who should have helped them.

McKenna’s mistreatment demonstrates the at-times deadly results of law enforcement being first responders in mental health crises. Police officers are not mental health professionals and often lack the skills and training necessary to handle such situations.

In February, McKenna called 911 during a mental health crisis. She had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 12. Instead of providing her with mental health support, officers brought McKenna to Fairfax County Jail on an outstanding warrant. After being held in jail for seven days, McKenna—who weighed 130 pounds and was 5’4’’ tall—was hooded and shackled by officers attempting to move her to a mental health facility. Within minutes of being Tased, she stopped breathing. She died in the hospital seven days later. After visiting her in the hospital, McKenna’s mother reported that her daughter's eyes were blackened, she was covered in bruises, and one of her fingers was missing.

The coroner classified McKenna’s cause of death as “excited delirium,” a term commonly used when deaths result from law enforcement use of Tasers that is not recognized by the medical community. Moreover, law enforcement ignored that the use of Tasers is not recommended on those suffering from mental illness.

The circumstances surrounding McKenna’s death are an indictment of a system that treats the most vulnerable members of our society as threats to the status quo rather than individuals in need of support. As a nation we must do better.

If we don’t speak up and force attention to McKenna’s story, those in power will face no repercussions for their blatant disregard for the value of her life. Join the African American Policy Forum, Amnesty International, Black Lives Matter DMV and SURJ NoVa in calling for an expedited Department of Justice investigation into McKenna’s death, along with immediate action to bring US policing practices in line with international human rights standards. CLICK HERE to sign Amnesty International’s petition calling for a swift and independent DOJ investigation, accompanied by concrete action including national guidelines for Taser use and the creation of a National Crime and Justice Task Force. Also CLICK HERE to add your name in support of SURJ NoVa and Black Lives Matter DMV’s call for the officers responsible for McKenna’s death to be fired.

The gross miscarriage of justice in Natasha McKenna’s case reminds us of the need to be vigilant in our call to #SayHerName. We must rededicate ourselves to uplifting her story. We must let the powers that be know that if we don’t get no justice, they won’t get no peace.

#SayHerName. #NatashaMcKenna

“I want to talk more about what we have to do to provide full opportunity and equality for our women and girls in America today,” said President Obama in his speech to the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday. Too often Black women have been left searching for -- as Mary J Blige put it -- that “real love” from American society. With these words the President expressed what we hope to be the beginning of some long-awaited real love for Black women and girls.

While applauding Black women’s role as civic leaders and social change agents, President Obama also pointed to the racial inequalities this population continues to experience. “In these discussions a lot of my focus has been on African American men and the work we are doing with My Brother’s Keeper,” he said. “We can’t forget the impact the system has on women as well.”

The African American Policy Forum commends the President for his recognition of the barriers to equality Black women continue to face in American society. As we expressed in our open letter 15 months ago, “women and girls of color are not doing fine, and until they are, men and boys will not be doing fine either.” We look forwardto seeing what concrete action the White House will take to follow through on the impetus to support women and girls of color expressed in his speech.

This is a groundbreaking moment that cannot be separated from the tireless efforts of those of us in the #WhyWeCantWaitcampaign to shed light on the need to support women and girls of color. As Brittney Cooper put it on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show, “When you help Black women and girls, you help everybody...so it’s a wonderful moment. It’s such a Sister Citizen moment too, there’s the politics of recognition. My question becomes: will we see it happen in substantive policy changes?”

Black women and all women of color continue to experience alarming barriers to equality across a range of concerns, including educational attainment, state and interpersonal violence, disproportionate incarceration, and disparities in health and wealth. As the African American Policy Forum’s #HerDreamDeferred Series highlighted, women of color in their economic prime have a median net wealth of just $5, and Black women were the only group whose unemployment rates didn’t fall in 2014 during the so-called economic recovery. Black women also experience persistent health disparities -- Black women with advanced degrees have worse birth outcomes than white women without high school diplomas. In our public education system, when compared to their same gender peers, Black girls experience a greater risk of punitive discipline than Black boys. Girls of color also experience gender specific burdens, including teen pregnancy, caretaking responsibilities, and sexual abuse in and outside school.

Yet largely due to an information gap on the status of women and girls of color, the persistent myth that they are doing “just fine” continues to feed a cycle of marginalization in which resources and data collection are not directed toward this population. If the President truly wants to “provide full opportunity and equality” for women of color, he must advance targeted strategies that get to the systemic root causes of the crisis facing people of color in this country. He must expand programs like My Brother’s Keeper to include ALL people of color, while ensuring that these programs advance institutional change and go beyond individual level interventions.

In the spirit of his commitment to further uplift women and girls of color, join us in calling on President Obama to use his remaining time in office to take meaningful action in this arena.

This is an unprecedented moment in which to shed light on the needs of women and girls of color. What actions can the White House take now? What do you think REAL LOVE for women and girls of color would look like? CLICK HERE to tell us what you think and how you would like to get involved.

Words help, but Black women and girls need to see action. We challenge @POTUS to act on his recent vows to support them.#WhyWeCantWait

Nationally Black girls are suspended 6X more than white girls. How will @POTUS combat the disparities in our public schools?#WhyWeCantWait

Black Women have a median net wealth of just $5. How will@POTUS help “get them some ten dollar bills"?#WhyWeCantWait

“Historically, it has been the advocacy and agitation of those marginalized by American society that has advanced our collective agendas,” said Kimberle Crenshaw, Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum and the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies. “This is true of women and girls of color now more than ever. We must continue to push for the advancement of women and girls of color as part of holistic racial justice agenda.”

This moment would not have happened without us raising our voices to demand the recognition of our rights, and we must remember that this is not the end of our collective responsibility. President Obama’s speech was a great first step--but the fight is not over. Support for women and girls cannot be just rhetorical. Just as men and boys need specific interventions, so to do women and girls.

Today, September 17, 2015 marks the three month anniversary of the Charleston Shooting. On June 17, Dylann Roof walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and opened fire, killing 9 Black parishioners in the midst of bible study.

Roof stated that his murder of six Black women and three Black men was undertaken because, “You rape our women, and you’re taking over our country, and you have to go.” Neither Roof’s actions nor the twisted logic behind them were an anomaly. They fall within an ugly history of enacting violence against Black bodies in the course of policing the boundaries of race and maintaining white supremacy.

Yet in less than three months this disturbing event has basically disappeared from our public discourse. A narrative of forgiveness was put forward almost immediately after the shooting, with Charleston County Magistrate James Gosnell Jr. even asking for sympathy for Roof’s family.

We refuse to forget this massacre so quickly. Charleston represents not only the disgrace of racial terrorism in the United States, but also the broader failure of American society to confront the implications of this tragedy.

Felicia Sanders, one of three survivors of the shooting, said that Roof’s actions “caught us with our eyes closed.” When Roof opened fire, Sanders had just closed her eyes in prayer. Yet in many ways the nation continues to be caught with its eyes closed to the gravity of the Charleston massacre. We must open our eyes wide to the reality that racial terror is a daily threat to the lives of people of color living in our society.

Discourses of forgiveness and grace ought not foreclose the urgent need for the nation to grapple with what Charleston teaches us about the state of racial terror in the United States today. The ethos that gave rise to Roof’s manifesto -- the idea that some groups of people are pathogens within this society -- continues to inform public discourses about a number of issues, including gun control, state violence, immigration, welfare and education. Thus, it is critical for us to situate Charleston within the larger history of racist patriarchy in America; and to continue our calls to link feminism and antiracism in our social justice advocacy.

Together, let's show that a critical mass of Americans are not ready to lay Charleston to rest. We can no longer afford to ignore how racism and patriarchy are inextricably linked to both the disturbing patterns of racial bigotry that continue to confront communities of color, and the horrific unfolding of Roof’s white supremacist ideology. Indeed, the Charleston Imperative demands that our social justice movements respond to these twin threats. If you have not yet signed The Charleston Imperative: Why Feminism and Antiracism Must Be Linked, please do so now. If you have signed, please share the statement with your friends, loved ones and social networks.

Please also join us in sharing the Charleston graphic and the following Tweets throughout the day using the hashtag #CharlestonDisgrace:

Charleston "caught us with our eyes closed." We cannot be blind to the realities of racism & patriarchy. #CharlestonDisgrace

3 months ago 6 women and 3 men lost their lives in the #CharlestonDisgrace. ALL Black lives are at risk of racial terrorism.

Grace, amazing though it is, should not spell the end of our responsibility to address the root of racist violence. We will neither forget nor forgive how the lives of Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Daniel Simmons Jr. and Myra Thompson were stolen from their families. We will keep our eyes wide open. We will remember Charleston.

Dear Friends,

As we mourn the death of Sandra Bland who was arrested one week ago today, and Eric Garner who was killed one year ago today, let us remember also the Charleston 9. One month ago today, nine precious lives were lost after a man who had been welcomed with open arms methodically gunned each one of them down. That this unspeakable horror occurred in the most sacred of spaces gives evidence to fact that Black bodies cannot be safe anywhere as long as the violence of racist patriarchy is nurtured and sustained.

In order to truly mourn the loss of the 6 women and 3 men who lost their lives, we must continue to acknowledge that what happened in Charleston was not an isolated incident. We know that many times in our history, the instincts that label Black bodies as problematic populations are evident in the actions of killers without a badge as well in the mindsets of those who have acted with one.

Today we reject the murderous intentions of Dylan Roof to turn turn their deaths into symbols of genocide and fear. We cannot allow it. Nor can we succumb to the impulse of many to turn away from this vicious embodiment of anti-Black racism. Join us today in honoring the lives of the Charleston 9 and all those who have lost their lives to anti-Black violence. Download the picture at the top of this post and join us in tweeting and sharing it on social media throughout the day along with the hashtag ‪#‎RememberCharleston‬.

And for those who can, join us this evening (Friday) for a virtual vigil by tweeting or posting each of their names beginning at 9:05pm EST, exactly one month after their lives were stolen from them along with the hashtag #RememberCharleston.

CLICK HERE to add your name to 'The Charleston Imperative: Why Feminism & Antiracism Must Be Linked', which over 2,500 individuals have signed since July 7th.

NOTE: Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not imply the endorsement of the listed institution.

The Charleston Imperative: Why Feminism & Antiracism Must Be Linked

July 7th, 2015

As we grieve for the nine African Americans who were murdered in their house of worship on June 17 2015, those of us who answer the call of feminism and antiracism must confront anew how the evils of racism and patriarchy continue to endanger all Black bodies, regardless of gender.

As antiracists, we know that the struggle against racial terror is older than the Republic itself. In particular we remember the work of Ida B Wells who risked everything to debunk the lies of lynchers over 100 years ago. Today, we see that fierce determination in Bree Newsome who scaled the 30-foot flagpole at the South Carolina state Capitol and brought down the Confederate flag. As feminists, we recognize how racism has been -- and is still -- gendered. Patriarchy continues to be foundational to racial terrorism in the US, both in specious claims that justify the torture of Black men in defense of white womanhood, and in its brutal treatment of Black women and girls. We also recognize that while patriarchy and racism are clearly intertwined, all too often, our struggles against them are not.

If the reaction to the Charleston massacre is to be realized as something beyond a singular moment of redemptive mourning, then neither the intersectional dynamics of racism and patriarchy which produced this hateful crime, nor the inept rhetorical politics that sustain the separation of feminism from antiracism, can be allowed to continue.

As antiracist feminists of every color, we refute the patriarchal, racist practices that endanger Black people across the nation. In so doing, we also insist that the extremism of Roof’s declaration that Black people “must go” because they are “taking over our country” and “raping our women” should not obscure how anti-Black racial logics are embedded in the routine decisions made by millions of people every day. Decisions about where to live, how to identify a “safe neighborhood” or a “good school,” whom to police, and to whom police are to be accountable, also rest on a longstanding demonization of Black bodies. These choices, grounded in ideologies of Black threat, frame separation from Blackness as a rational choice. The narratives that routinely diminish the life chances of African Americans are not yesterday’s problems. Dylann Roof was born in 1994, yet murdered nine Black people having thoroughly consumed narratives that continue to denigrate Black people over half a century after the supposed fall of white supremacy. The continued assault on Black churches--several which have been burned to the ground since the Charleston Massacre--tells us that even the most extreme expressions of this denigration are not isolated.

We must recognize, at last, that racial violence, including the cycle of suffering and slow death that hovers over Black communities, is structural as well as individual. Equally significant, racial violence has never been focused on males alone. A clear indication of the way that white insecurities can unleash murderous impulses against all Black people, is that Roof murdered six Black women as well as three Black men. In his perceived defense of white women, Roof killed Black mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives and daughters. To would-be purveyors of Black genocide, there are no collateral victims. Every Black body is a threat; every dead one is one step closer to their ultimate goal.

Feminists must denounce the use of white insecurity -- whether in relation to white womanhood, white neighborhoods, white politics, or white wealth -- to justify the brutal assaults against Black people of all genders. Antiracists must acknowledge that patriarchy has long been a weapon of racism and cannot sit comfortably in any politic of racial transformation. We must all stand against both the continual, systematic and structural racial inequities that normalize daily violence as well as against extreme acts of racial terror. Policy, and movement responses that fail to reflect an intersectional approach are doomed to fail. We want a loving community across difference. In the memory of Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Daniel Simmons Jr. and Myra Thompson, we commit to a vibrant, inclusive, and intersectional social justice movement that condemns racist patriarchy and works to end its daily brutality and injustice. Anything less is unacceptable.

"MBK is a pretty good deal for cities like Ferguson looking to shore up their shoddy reputations with racial justice gestures on the cheap. To qualify, a city need not ban stop and frisk procedures, the killing of unarmed people of color or the use of military-grade weapons on citizens operating within their constitutional rights. It need not eliminate segregation and housing discrimination, or commit to replenishing public services and ensuring a living wage for workers. As the summit in Ferguson illustrates, MBK does more to provide cover for politicians than to provide meaningful change for communities of color."

AAPF enters the New Year with enormous appreciation that the efforts of those who made 2014 a turning point for an inclusive vision of racial justice have been recognized.

Historically, ideological tensions within our disparate communities and political divisions between feminists have compromised our ability to mobilize around the very simple things upon which we collectively agree -- that women and girls matter too, and that the issues that jeopardize their lives deserve attention now.

2014, however, was different.

This year feminists of all genders and colors stepped up to say that no crisis can be solved within our families and communities without addressing how racism affects all of us. As we join the chorus of our foremothers who have been advocating for an inclusive vision of racial justice for well over a century, 2014 brought forward the unprecedented support of hundreds of African American men from all walks of life who also insist that these are values that we cannot wait to embrace.

Engaging this campaign was not without consequence. The simplicity of our basic message -- that a separate and unequal strategy will never result in the structural and institutional transformation we need -- belies the many concrete risks taken by those who speak openly about this reality. At the same time, their willingness to be counted has opened conversations that were presumptively foreclosed.

Conversation of course is a necessary but not sufficient predicate to the changes we seek at all levels.

Although our struggle continues, we pause today to count among our blessings the thousands who have amplified this message by signing letters to the President of the United States, testifying at town hall meetings, writing op-eds and blogs, circulating petitions, talking to family members, co-workers and friends, calling out the names of women and girls who have lost their lives to state violence in protest marches across the country, and reminding us of the countless women of color who have suffered and died from private violence and neglect.

AAPF

CLICK HEREto read the full article, which hails #WhyWeCantWait one of the most important social media campaigns of 2014.

"Among those leaders is Kimberlé Crenshaw, a law professor at Columbia University and founder of the African American Policy Forum. Crenshaw spearheaded the #WhyWeCantWaitmovement to protest the exclusion of women and girls of color from President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative. Her refusal to allow the erasure of black women from conversations on dismantling structural racism was met with wide criticism from many in the African-American community who attributed #WhyWeCantWait to feminists run amok—but that didn’t stop the AAPF.

Organizers launched a social media blitz, drafting a letter to President Obama that was signed by more than 1,000 women—including writer Alice Walker, actress Rosario Dawson and legendary activist Angela Davis. Activists highlighted their assertion that President Obama outsourced concern for black women and girls to his staff, as opposed to including them in his strongest racial initiative to date. The flawed and sexist logic that positions the empowerment of black women as adjacent or secondary to that of black men is one the AAPF continues to challenge on social media and beyond."

"Change Agents of 2014: Black Women on Social Media" by Kirsten West Savali

Black Girls Matter:Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected

February 4, 2015—Girls of color face much harsher school discipline than their white peers but are excluded from current efforts to address the school-to-prison pipeline, according to a new report issued today by the African American Policy Forum and Columbia Law School’s Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies.

The report, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected, is based on a new review of national data and personal interviews with young women in Boston and New York. Read a copy of that reporthere.

“As public concern mounts for the needs of men and boys of color through initiatives like the White House’s My Brother’s Keeper, we must challenge the assumption that the lives of girls and women—who are often left out of the national conversation—are not also at risk,” said Kimberlé Crenshaw, the report’s lead author.

Crenshaw, a leading authority in how law and society are shaped by race and gender, argues thatan intersectional approach encompassing how related identity categories such as race, gender, and class overlap to create inequality on multiple levels is necessary to address the issue of school discipline and the school-to-prison pipeline.

The study cites several examples of excessive disciplinary actions against young black girls, including the controversial 2014 case of a 12-year-old in Georgia who faced expulsion and criminal charges for writing the word “hi” on a locker room wall. A white female classmate who was also involved faced a much less severe punishment.

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education cited in the report, nationally black girls were suspended six times more than white girls, while black boys were suspended three times as often as white boys.

Data specific to New York and Boston demonstrates that the relative risk for disciplinary action is higher for Black girls when compared to white girls than it is for Black boys when compared to white boys.

●In New York, the number of disciplinary cases involving black girls was more than 10times more than those involving their white counterparts and the number of cases involving black boys was six times the number of those involving white boys, despite there being only twice as many black students as white students.

●In Boston, the number of disciplinary cases involving black girls was more than 11 times more than those involving their white counterparts while the number of cases involving black boys was approximately eight times those involving white boys, despite there being less than three times as many black students as white students.

●Rates of expulsion were even more strikingly disproportionate between black and white students, especially among girls.

The report recommends policies and interventions to address challenges facing girls of color, including revising policies that funnel girls into juvenile supervision facilities; developing programs that identify signs of sexual victimization and assist girls in addressing traumatic experiences; advancing programs that support girls who are pregnant, parenting, or otherwise assuming significant familial responsibilities; and improving data collection to better track discipline and achievement by race/ethnicity and gender for all groups.

Click on the images below to access to the report, the executive summary, and a Black Girls Matter: Social Media Guide, which provides images, tweets, and key messages for you to use in promoting the basic point that Black Girls Matter.

December 3, 2014, New York – Today, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) released the following statement in response to the tragic news that the Grand Jury in the Eric Garner case failed to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who was caught on video, killing him with an illegal chokehold:

“Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Eric Garner who now must bear this heartbreaking decision. We are immensely saddened by the non-indictment of Officer Daniel Pantaleo and dismayed that such a low bar of probable cause could not be met in the face of a clear videotaped homicide of a man pleading simply to be left alone. The only thing lower than the standard that had to be met to proceed to a trial is apparently the value of the lives of Black men, women and children. In the face of such profound injustices, we must demand courageous leadership from our president, governor and mayor now more than ever. We must show our power in the streets through protest and with our wallets through economic boycott. We cannot rest until we’ve achieved meaningful reform of our criminal justice system."

Black Friday is almost upon us and the ads are everywhere, insisting that we suspend our outrage because there are sales not to be missed. I am determined not to purchase anything this weekend, including Cyber Monday. Friends have asked whether these days of absence might make any difference. My response:

1. In a just society, the Prosecutor, the Governor and everyone involved in the miscarriage of justice that occurred in Ferguson this week would have lost their jobs. Police all over the country would be reigned in and the racist marketplace in which killers are rewarded with “defense expenses”andmedia interviewswould no longer function as a bounty on Black heads. But, the capital that dictates what matters in this country is not moral suasion but dollars and cents. Until we aggregate our spending power and wield it like the Koch Brothers, our demands for change will likely be ignored.

2. The business of America is business, and that extends to law and politics. This is why Wall Street buzzed ahead on Tuesday as though nothing that happened the night before in Ferguson really matters. Until we make it matter in a language they understand, it won’t.

3. Many of us can’t attend the marches in Ferguson and elsewhere, but we can show up by sitting down on Black Friday. Instead of spending money accumulating stuff, we can spend our energies amassing the clout we need to back up our demands for police accountability and massive systems reform.

4. Economic boycotts have long been an important but under-appreciated tactic in winning victories against racism. Montgomery,Nashvilleand other cities were brought to their knees when African Americans took away the one thing the system needed: their acquiescence.

5. It’s not just the trillion dollars that Black people spend at stake here, but the trillions more that all those who support racial justice might also hold back. During the sit-in demonstrations a half century ago, a reporter asked Congressman Adam Clayton Powell whether he was asking all Black people across the country to boycott chain stores that discriminated against African Americans. Correcting that narrow assumption, Powell declared, “Oh no, that's not true. I'm advocating that American citizens interested in democracy to stay out of chain stores.” This 50+ year old tactic is being updated on Black Friday. Everyone—citizens and residents, people of color and our white allies, every one who knows that we can’t wait for justice— can make a difference by aggregating dollars not spent into a powerful protest.

6. The lives of everyman,woman and child killed by state violence matter more than a sale. If it didn't make sense in the 60s to shop where we can't eat, then it certainly doesn't make sense to shop where we can't exercise our right to life.

‪#‎HandsUpDontShop #Ferguson #WhyWeCantWait #BlackLivesMatter

The stunning announcement that Darren Wilson will not face any charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown is a bitter disappointment not only to the immediate family of Michael Brown, but to all of those who value justice, police accountability and human rights. We are particularly disturbed by the actions of Robert McCulloch whose prosecutorial performance failed to instill confidence that the grand jury decision was fair. Indeed, the tenor and substance of the announcement revealed a process that functioned more as an indictment of Michael Brown than a determination of whether there was probable cause to try Darren Wilson for any crime. This defendant-friendly grand jury process underscores concerns that the criminal justice system poses insurmountable obstacles to real police accountability, while setting very low entry points that funnel so many people of color into prison.

We have been reminded that we are governed by the rule of law, yet the painful reality of Ferguson, and the longer history of white supremacy that proceeded it, is that legality does not necessarily guarantee justice. As Martin Luther King, Jr. observed, “law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice [but] when they fail in this purpose they [can] become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” In the pursuit of a just order, we must be frank in addressing how racism has shaped the law and the day-to-day lives of those who must live in fear under its shadow. If the national conversation that many are calling for is to move us toward justice, then the widespread tolerance and support for policies and practices that endanger the lives of Black people must be unequivocally condemned.